"Hey..."

Nia stared up at the strange man before her, keeping herself on guard. He looked odd, but with his blue skin and white hair it didn't take much to figure out he must have been related to Oberon. Which meant he was probably an enemy.

She suddenly felt her brother put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him confused. "No, it's okay Nia. He's not an enemy..."

The princess looked confused. "Wait, then who...?"

Uran reached up and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I can't really blame you for not remembering me. I mean, the last time I saw you, you were still in your mother's stomach, so it's not really such a surprise," he said before looking over her. "I'm glad you seem to be okay though. And you got your mother's looks thankfully."

Nia's eyes widened and she turned back towards him in shock. "Wait, are you...?"

Uran looked nervous. "Uh... yeah. I'm sorry, I know I'm not much to look at. And considering the circumstances I can't imagine you're all that happy to see me. But-" He was cut off as Nia suddenly ran right into him, nearly knocking him to the ground.

He stumbled back as Nia wrapped her arms around him tightly. Uran looked down at her surprised, then flinched when she looked up at him, eyes filled with tears and snot dripping down her face. "I can't believe it! It's really you! I've wanted to meet you ever since I heard about you! I got so many questions I need to ask!" Nia cried.

Uran stared for a moment, and then smiled before hugging her back. "I'm happy to finally meet you too Titania..." He was getting covered in tears and snot, but right now he didn't really care all that much. He glanced up towards Astro who smirked. "We really have a lot of catching up to do. About a lot of things."

Nia sat with an eager look on her face as she looked up at her father. He was scarfing down food like there was no tomorrow. Being trapped on that island had left him with very limited food options, and while he didn't really need to eat to survive, it was still something he very much enjoyed doing.

Astro leaned against the wall watching with a curious expression. So this is where Nia got her monstrous appetite from. He downed a glass of water and then let out a sigh. "Ah, humans have always been good at making such flavorful food," Uran said smiling.

The princess giggled. "Yeah, the food is my favorite part of Earth too. Well, that and all my friends."

"My father used to get so upset at all the food I'd bring back to Avalon. He never seemed to like us getting too steeped in the human's affairs," he said, crossing his arms.

Astro hummed. "I imagine he really wasn't too thrilled when you and Star got together then?"

Uran flinched, but before he could answer another voice cut in. "No, no he wasn't." They all turned around and saw Alexander making his way in. "Oberon was never a fan of halflings. Saw them as too attached to their mortal sides to be loyal to him."

Astro narrowed his eyes as soon as he saw him, and Uran looked stunned. "Alexander?! What are you doing here?!"

Alexander chuckled. "It's nice to see you too Uncle."

"You're so much bigger than before! You were just a pipsqueak last time I saw you!"

"I wasn't that small..." Alexander muttered. "And I'm here because I sensed young Nia here needed assistance. I've been doing my best to help her control her abilities, but seeing as you're here now I assume you'll be taking over her guidance."

Uran scratched his head. "Uh... about that. You see the thing is-"

"Oberon took his powers," Astro said bluntly.

"What?!" Nia asked, shocked.

"That's rather troubling..." Alexander said, narrowing his eyes.

Nia jumped up from her chair. "I can't believe it! Grandpa really is a jerk!" she shouted. "What kind of guy steals power from his own kid?!"

"My father has always been very... unreasonable, for lack of a better word. But we don't need to worry about that right now," Uran assured standing up. "I may not have powers right now, but I should still be able to more or less guide you with using yours."

Nia's face lit up. "Wait, really?"

He nodded. "Yes, but... well, it's a very tricky situation," he said rubbing the back of his head. "Under normal circumstances the methods I would go with is meditation. Slowly learning how to harness and draw out your power bit by bit."

Alexander smirked. "That's the method I was going with. But given our circumstances I assume you know we can no longer afford such a time consuming method," he explained.

Uran nodded. "That's right. Oberon isn't going to wait too long to come for you. He's not that patient. Once he senses you're starting to get the hang of things, he'll want to swoop in and take over. So we might have to use a more... direct method."

Astro narrowed his eyes. "Direct? Direct how?"

"The method I'm suggesting would require Nia dealing with Titania herself..."

AJ had been through training before. His mom and dad had both taught him basic self defense, and his uncles had taught him a couple of martial arts moves. Nothing too fancy, but enough to keep someone off him if something went down. But… what he had just been through…

It wasn't just training, it was hell.

He was starting to wonder if this was a set up. Margo was pretty motherly towards Nia. Maybe she was trying to get him killed for being into her or something? Either way, it was too late to turn back now. His dad always said a real man follows through on his word. So he had to keep on going.

Even if it meant almost getting killed by that crazy chick.

He walked towards the mess hall of the Vanguard base, ready to get something to eat and maybe try and find a sly way to ask Nia to patch him up. As he got closer, he could hear voices. He looked up and then saw Astro, who looked furious, yelling at some… some guy he didn't recognize.

"You're kidding right?! You're essentially trying to throw her into the dragon's den!"

The blue skinned man held his hands up defensively. "Look, this is the only way I see her getting enough power to fight him off in time. It's certainly not the way I would prefer to do it, but if it's our only option-"

Alexander chimed in. "Uran, do you realize just how dangerous that could be. If she fails Titania could end up grabbing a more permanent hold on her body. It won't be as simple as just knocking her out… not that that's a simple task to begin with."

"I'm not saying there isn't risk-"

"That's a damn big risk!" Astro yelled.

AJ looked back and forth between the three. He was totally lost here. But that wasn't really unusual for him in the Vanguard base. His attention turned towards Nia, who was looking down at the ground with an expression that was hard to read. "Blondie, you okay?" he asked.

Everyone in the room, including Nia, turned towards him. AJ ignored the other three males in the room and kept his gaze focused on NIa. She stared at him for a while, then got up and zipped towards him. "AJ!" She nearly knocked him off his feet with how hard she'd grabbed him into her hug. "Oh man! I'm so glad you're okay! When everyone told me what happened I was so worried! You're okay right?!"

AJ nodded, putting his hands on her girl's shoulders to calm her. "Yeah, I'm all good. That happened a couple of days ago you know. You healed me up fine and…" He stopped when he thought about how Titania healed him. Envie and Olevia had told him that she had… his first kiss and he wasn't even awake for it. "I'm good."

She frowned. "You don't look good. You look all beaten up. What happened to you?" she asked, lifting his chin. "Did you get into another fight? Did Cressida try coming after you again?" she asked, clearly more than a little worried about the boy.

AJ blushed and turned away from her. "N-no, it was nothing like that. This is something different. Just calm down already blondie, I told you I'm fine."

She let out a sigh. "Sorry, I guess all this stuff just has me on edge. Here, let me heal you." She reached up and placed a hand on the side of his face, then her cheeks glowed for a moment. AJ felt all the soreness and scratches all over his body suddenly vanish. She smiled. "There you go!"

"Thanks blondie…" he muttered, still blushing.

Uran looked on at the two, clearly confused. Alexander just smirked, while Astro narrowed his eyes. "Uh… may I ask who this is?" Uran asked.

Nia turned back towards him. "Oh, this is my best earth friend AJ," she introduced. She then held her hand out towards Uran. "And AJ, this is my dad!"

AJ looked stunned. "Wait, what?! You found him?!" Figures the first day he didn't run right over here was the day something crazy went down. "Wow, so… I guess it's nice to meet you or whatever Mr. Butterfly… oh wait, is that your last name? Do you have a last name?" he asked curiously.

Uran opened his mouth, but then stopped and looked up in thought. He technically didn't have a last name. His first name was always followed by 'son of Oberon'. Did he ever actually take Star's last name? Was that how that worked? "I think so?"

Astro walked over and placed a hand on both Nia and AJ's head before slowly nudging them apart. "Okay, we don't have time for this. Introductions can wait until later. We need to focus on the topic at hand here," he said, plucking AJ's forehead. "Your plan is absolutely insane. You can't expect Nia to tangle with Titania."

AJ tilted his head. "Wait? Nia and Titania? But ain't they the same person?"

"We'll catch you up on all the details later. For not just know the only suggestion is that Nia somehow wrestle her power from Titania. That's the most simple way I can explain it without wasting too much time," Alexander said.

AJ frowned. "Okay, I get that. But they're the same person. So why you guys acting like this is two people fighting? It's two sides of the same coin or whatever," he said. Nia stared at the boy and blinked, a thought crossing her mind.

Astro sighed. "AJ, this is something that's just a little out of your league. So while you concern is very much appreciated why don't you-"

"I'm gonna do it."

Everyone stopped when Nia spoke up. She was looking towards Uran, a determined expression across her face. "What?" Astro asked, stepping towards her. "Nia, you don't have to do this just because we're short on time. We can find some other way. If this backfires then Titania could end up taking control again."

Uran looked nervous. "I know I suggested this, but your brother is right. I was only explaining an option. If you're not comfortable with this then you don't have to do it."

She shook her head. "No, I want to do this, and it won't backfire. I have a plan."

"You have a plan?" Astro asked. "What plan?"

"I can't say. If I told you then you would totally doubt the plan."

"...you're not giving me a whole lot of faith in this plan Nia…"

"I know. But you have faith in me right? Trust that my totally awesome but only slightly risky plan will work. I can do this."

Astro stared down at his sister, and then ran a hand over his face. "You understand why I have reservations with letting you do this, don't you?" he asked. Nia nodded. "Good, because I want you to remember that even though I did, I let you do it anyway. Because I'm an amazing older brother."

Nia smiled. "Sure are. The best."

Alexander hummed. "Well, it's like they say. Fortune favors the bold. Should I start making preparations for this then?" he asked.

Nia nodded once more. "Yeah, I'm ready whenever you are." She then heard sniffing, and turned towards Uran who looked like he was tearing up. She frowned. "What's wrong? You are not worried are you? I told you I had a plan. I know it's dangerous but-"

"No, it's not that. It's just… you remind me so much of your mother right now," he said as both tears and snot began making their way down his face. "I feel so proud of you right now. Is this what I've been missing out on all these years? This is amazing…"

Astro glared. "You! You're where she gets her terrible crying from!"

Nia looked like she was starting to tear up herself. "Dad, don't start crying. If you start crying, then I'm gonna start crying and…" She sniffled.

"Oh for stump's sake…" Astro muttered.